While trying desperately yesterday to find an Irish Pub that was still in business in downtown Savannah (Max has a Guinness app for the phone - it tells the Guinness lover where the closest pint can be found), we finally gave up and asked Emily for the address of the restaurant where she works. The Flip Flop Tiki Bar and Grill was open for lunch. It has no Guinness on tap, but it does have a nice selection of beers. We sat down at a table next to the open door, and looked over the menu, which is brief - meaning, I believe, that the food would be prepared fresh to order, which is a good thing. Emily suggested the tacos, which Max ordered, and I had the pulled pork sandwich, both of which came with a side order of our choice. Yum.
The pork sandwich was like a barbecued pork sandwich, except that the sauce was more a piquant sauce than a barbecue sauce. It had a kick, and it was vinegar-based, so I'm assuming it contained some jerk spices. The sandwich came with black beans and rice on the side, and I still got to choose one of four side dishes. I chose well, picking homemade sweet potato chips, which tasted even better when dipped in the aforementioned sauce. I did my best NOT to eat all the chips, with or without the sauce, and succeeded somewhat. I couldn't make a dent in the black beans and rice, so I brought those home with me, but I had a few bites and can hardly wait to heat them up and devour them.
Max's tacos were in flour tortillas. He got to choose from four fillings - pork, jerk chicken, grilled shrimp, and grilled fish - and could add one of four toppings - avocado salsa, pico de gallo, mango salsa, or roasted corn salsa. According to Emily's recommendation, he got pork tacos and chose pico de gallo to finish it off. He also got some black beans and rice, but unlike me, the man who never gains weight ate it all.
I had a glass of wine, from the California Flip Flop label, which was fine and only $4. Max had some micro-brewery beer that he pronounced good, but I don't remember its cost. I did notice that 12-oz. frozen drinks, such as margaritas, pina coladas, and other tropical foo-foo drinks are also $4. I think that's a bargain.
As I suspected, the food was made fresh to order, and was delicious. I didn't find anything fried on the menu, which, as far as I'm concerned, is a real plus. The room was decorated in island chic - beadboard, bamboo, umbrellas here and there, and beach photos and art. It was a fun place to be, and I can imagine that it would be a blast around happy hour. Then again, what place ISN'T a blast around happy hour?
We will probably go there again tonight, just so we can watch our daughter at work and maybe give her a big tip (other than buy low, sell high).
The Flip Flop Tiki Bar and Grill is located at 117 Whitaker Street (phone 912/233-5600) and on the web at http://www.savannahflipflop.com/. Enjoy.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Thanksgiving in June
We are in Savannah for Thanksgiving, except nothing screams, "Thanksgiving!" Yesterday, Max and I strolled the streets of Savannah enjoying 80-degree weather and beautiful sunshine. We basked in the sun's warmth outside the new SCAD art museum and gallery on brand new sod looking at what looked like blow-up white club chairs on the lawn. I even perspired a bit as I waited for Max to get Emily's oil changed.
The grocery stores, however, made me think that something special is up. We went to the Kroger store, about five miles from Emily's apartment, and the aisles were jam packed full of people buying what was on sale - baking ingredients, stuffing mix, and dried, candied fruits. I got the turkey breast at Sam's Club, which was also crowded. It looked, however, as if most people were buying Christmas gifts. Like Nordstrom's, I like to celebrate one holiday at a time.
I think I will watch the Thanksgiving parade on television tomorrow morning, and then I hope we can head for the beach for part of the day. Because I am cooking for only three people, it won't be that elaborate nor will it take that long. I figure that as long as I am in Savannah, the beach can become a part of our Thanksgiving celebration. Why not? But don't worry. I will watch Miracle on 34th Street. Some things simply cannot change.
The grocery stores, however, made me think that something special is up. We went to the Kroger store, about five miles from Emily's apartment, and the aisles were jam packed full of people buying what was on sale - baking ingredients, stuffing mix, and dried, candied fruits. I got the turkey breast at Sam's Club, which was also crowded. It looked, however, as if most people were buying Christmas gifts. Like Nordstrom's, I like to celebrate one holiday at a time.
I think I will watch the Thanksgiving parade on television tomorrow morning, and then I hope we can head for the beach for part of the day. Because I am cooking for only three people, it won't be that elaborate nor will it take that long. I figure that as long as I am in Savannah, the beach can become a part of our Thanksgiving celebration. Why not? But don't worry. I will watch Miracle on 34th Street. Some things simply cannot change.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
My LIttle Duckling
We are preparing to go to see Emily for Thanksgiving, and I am really looking forward to the trip, although it will be a long one. This will be one of the only times since we have lived at 1020 South Barrett that we have not been in our home for Thanksgiving, which is my favorite holiday, and I don't know how that will feel. We plan to take to Savannah the necessities for cooking dinner, because Emily lives in a wonderful apartment with a very modern kitchen, and she has a plethora of cooking vessels and utensils. We should have no trouble brining a turkey breast and making it delectable. However, it will seem strange to cook for just three. I don't know if I can do it.
The largest holiday crowd I ever cooked for was 20, which was a Christmas Day feast combining Don's family and ours, complete with children under the age of reason. Emily, who was under 10 at the time, and I made iced sugar cookie place cards for everyone, and putting together three dining areas exercised our interior architecture creativity, but it was a really fun time, albeit stressful. I remember drinking a lot of wine while I was cooking.
I also remember another holiday dinner; Max was enamored of someone's - maybe Tyler Florence's - method of cooking a turkey with stuffing. The chef suggested shoving the stuffing between the bird and its skin and roasting as usual. Unfortunately, our turkey was one with a pop-up button, and it popped up but wasn't ready. The turkey was pretty much raw on the inside. We have rarely deviated from our tried-and-true turkey cooking since then. What made it worse was that we had guests, and we then had to wait another two hours to eat. By that time, the only thing that looked good was the white wine, and so we drank it all. Who remembers whether the turkey was done after that?
My favorite dish was the butternut squash/parsnip yin and yang side dish. Max made a barrier of cardboard covered with PAM covered foil, curved it in the proper shape, and placed it in a casserole dish. I then filled one side of a casserole with pureed butternut squash and the other side with pureed parsnips. It was beautiful and tasted really good.
Another thing I like is that at the end of Thanksgiving evening, sated and exhausted, I enjoy going into the living room and sitting in front of the fire to watch "Miracle on 34th Street." No matter how many times I see the movie, I tear up when Natalie Wood bounces up and down on her toes as she looks out the door to the back yard and exclaims, "There IS one! There IS one!" And I cry when Santa Claus sings to and talks with the little Dutch girl. What a sap!
So this Thanksgiving will break with a tradition regarding where we eat our turkey, and another tradition of what we do after we eat the turkey, but we will be together, we three, and we will give thanks that we can be together, that we have made it through yet another year of challenges, sadness, joy, and the unexpected, and that we are happy, healthy, and ready for what lies ahead.
Well, I think I will make iced sugar cookie place cards. Surely I can make three.
The largest holiday crowd I ever cooked for was 20, which was a Christmas Day feast combining Don's family and ours, complete with children under the age of reason. Emily, who was under 10 at the time, and I made iced sugar cookie place cards for everyone, and putting together three dining areas exercised our interior architecture creativity, but it was a really fun time, albeit stressful. I remember drinking a lot of wine while I was cooking.
I also remember another holiday dinner; Max was enamored of someone's - maybe Tyler Florence's - method of cooking a turkey with stuffing. The chef suggested shoving the stuffing between the bird and its skin and roasting as usual. Unfortunately, our turkey was one with a pop-up button, and it popped up but wasn't ready. The turkey was pretty much raw on the inside. We have rarely deviated from our tried-and-true turkey cooking since then. What made it worse was that we had guests, and we then had to wait another two hours to eat. By that time, the only thing that looked good was the white wine, and so we drank it all. Who remembers whether the turkey was done after that?
My favorite dish was the butternut squash/parsnip yin and yang side dish. Max made a barrier of cardboard covered with PAM covered foil, curved it in the proper shape, and placed it in a casserole dish. I then filled one side of a casserole with pureed butternut squash and the other side with pureed parsnips. It was beautiful and tasted really good.
Another thing I like is that at the end of Thanksgiving evening, sated and exhausted, I enjoy going into the living room and sitting in front of the fire to watch "Miracle on 34th Street." No matter how many times I see the movie, I tear up when Natalie Wood bounces up and down on her toes as she looks out the door to the back yard and exclaims, "There IS one! There IS one!" And I cry when Santa Claus sings to and talks with the little Dutch girl. What a sap!
So this Thanksgiving will break with a tradition regarding where we eat our turkey, and another tradition of what we do after we eat the turkey, but we will be together, we three, and we will give thanks that we can be together, that we have made it through yet another year of challenges, sadness, joy, and the unexpected, and that we are happy, healthy, and ready for what lies ahead.
Well, I think I will make iced sugar cookie place cards. Surely I can make three.
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